Lord Rooker: At present a locum is acting into the position of consultant community paediatrician while a recruitment exercise is taking place to fill the post substantively.
	There are approximately six whole-time equivalent speech and language therapists working within Newry and Mourne Trust and Armagh and Dungannon Trust, these posts do not work exclusively with children with autistic spectrum disorder, but do provide support for children with autism in special care schools, learning support units and community clinics.

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 20 June (WA 67), who is the team leader for each of the seven multi-disciplinary early intervention teams operating within Northern Ireland; whether team leaders are dedicated to managing their teams full-time; what is the specific discipline of each team leader; and whether there is an overall Northern Ireland co-ordinator for autistic spectrum disorder.

Lord Rooker: Healthcare professionals from a range of backgrounds provide early diagnosis, assessment and intervention services for children with autism, within the boards and trusts.
	The lead individuals responsible for autism services at board/trust level are as follows.
	
		
			 Down Lisburn Trust Dr Margaret Stanfield Medical Officer 
			  Ms Eileen Sherrard Clinical Psychology 
			  Ms Heather Crawford Speech and Language Therapy 
			 Foyle HSS Trust Dr Vivien Dale Social Work 
			 North & West Belfast Trust Dr Janice Bothwell Paediatrician 
			 South & East Belfast Trust Dr Anne Armstrong Paediatrician 
			 Southern Health and Social Services Board Ms Lorraine Scott Teaching 
			 Homefirst Trust Mrs Joan Stephenson Speech and Language Therapy 
			  Mrs Lyz Elks Speech and Language Therapy 
			  Mrs Geraldine Teague Occupational Therapy 
			  Dr Clare Bailey Paediatrician 
			 Ulster Community & Hospitals Trust Dr Cathy MacPherson Consultant Paediatrician 
		
	
	Team leaders are generally not dedicated to managing their team full-time. However, Ms Lorraine Scott is specifically dedicated to managing autism services in the Southern Health & Social Services Board area.
	Northern Ireland does not have a full-time co-ordinator for autistic spectrum disorders.

Lord Rooker: The numbers of whole-time equivalent posts in the 11 Northern Ireland departments and the NIO, including their agencies, for each of the past three years are as follows:
	
		
			 Year 11 Departments Northern Ireland Office ** Total 
			 2004* 28, 607 1,622 30,229 
			 2005* 27,836 1,715 29,551 
			 April 2006 26,886 1,849 28,735 
			 * The 2004 and 2005 figures are based on information held by departments at April or September each year. 
			 ** NIO figures exclude Home Civil Service staff, PSNI, Youth Justice Agency non-administrative staff, and uniformed Prison Service staff. 
		
	
	The number of employees, as at 1 April 2006, (a) seconded; (b) temporary; (c) casual; and (d) employed by the Northern Ireland Assembly are as follows.
	
		
			  11 Departments Northern Ireland Office Total 
			 Seconded 300.1 19 319.1 
			 Temporary 58.7 0 58.7 
			 Casual 637.5 59 696.5 
			 Employed by Northern Ireland Assembly 123.65 6 129.65 
		
	
	For the purpose of this Question: "seconded" means staff seconded to other NICS departments and the Northern Ireland Office, including agencies, as well as to external organisations, but excluding those seconded to the Northern Ireland Assembly. "Temporary" refers to NICS staff employed on fixed-term contracts for a specified duration, and "casual staff" is defined as, "a short-term contract lasting no more than 51 weeks". NICS employees employed by the Northern Ireland Assembly include only those on secondment from the departments/NIO to the Assembly.

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Which major public sector employers in Northern Ireland have imposed a recruitment and promotion freeze pending implementation of the changes proposed in the Review of Public Administration; and why the Northern Ireland Civil Service is exempt from that freeze.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Figures for the number of items handed into the police during the knife amnesty in England and Wales are currently being gathered from forces and collated. The figures will be released later this month. Figures for the number of items handed in under the knife amnesty in Scotland are a matter for the Scottish Executive.
	The amnesty was one part of our wider strategy to tackle knife crime. Provisions have also been introduced in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill to tighten legislation, including raising the age at which someone can be sold a knife to 18, introducing a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon and new powers for head teachers to search pupils for knives.
	The Home Secretary announced on 19 June that he was giving very serious consideration to the suggestion that the maximum sentence for having a knife or blade in a public place should be increased from the current sentence of 2 years. We are also supporting education and prevention projects aimed at highlighting to young people the risks of carrying knives. Following on from the amnesty, many forces will now focus enforcement effort on knife possession to ensure that those carrying knives are brought to justice.

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	On how many occasions the Lisburn Road fire station in Belfast has been called to deal with bin burning and related arson incidents in alleys in the last 12 months; and whether the local police have consequently been involved in investigations relating to such arson and in developing an approach to curb the number of these fires and to deal with those responsible.

Lord Rooker: During the period from 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006, the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) dealt with 866 arson-related incidents in the Cadogan fire station area on Belfast's Lisburn Road, of which 388 involved deliberate ignition of rubbish, skips and bins. The NIFRS has an ongoing arson reduction programme as part of an educational package for primary and secondary schools.
	The Police Service of Northern Ireland has advised that figures are not available on the numbers of recorded incidents of arson, as these are recorded against the owner's address rather than as an "alleyway incident". "Alleygating", whereby locked gates are placed at both ends of an alley, thus making it a private space to which residents have a key, is being rolled out across Belfast. This citywide initiative is being co-ordinated by Belfast City Council Community Safety Unit. Initial pilots have seen a remarkable reduction in levels of anti-social behaviour in those areas. The community safety wardens scheme in the Holylands area has improved the local environment and should reduce bin burning in the area.

Lord Rooker: Sickness Absence Days Lost 2000-06 
		
		
			 Financial Year Days Lost Due to Sickness Absence 
			 2000-01 1,321 
			 2001-02 1,525 
			 2002-03 1,045.5 
			 2003-04 1,848.5 
			 2004-05 1,522 
			 2005-06 2,233

Lord Rooker: The Government will do all theycan to facilitate discussions and negotiationsbetween the Northern Ireland political partiesin the lead-up to the 24 November deadline. It is primarily a matter for the parties to determine which issues need to be included in these discussions. To date, none has suggested that Waterways Ireland be included.